Woman whose body was found in Richmond may have frozen to death

Employees reporting for work Saturday morning discovered the body of a white female on the sidewalk. She was later identified as Samantha Jane Ward of Columbus Township. For the Macomb Daily/DAVID S. ANGELL

Richmond police theorize a St. Clair County woman whose body was found outside of a Rite Aid Pharmacy store Saturday morning may have frozen to death but are awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine the exact cause.

The woman was identified as Samantha Jane Ward, 22, of Columbus Township. Employees reporting for work discovered her body on the sidewalk outside of the pharmacy about 9:20 a.m., according to Richmond Police Chief David Teske.

Police are investigating it as a suspicious death, but added she was found clothed but without any hat, jacket or gloves. There was no obvious sign of trauma to the body.

“She was out Friday night with some friends at one of our local taverns and when the group started to walk home at the end of the night, she took a different path and they lost sight of each other,” Teske said.

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The overnight temperature in suburban Detroit dipped down to 1 degree, but felt like 14 below zero with the wind factored in, according to the National Weather Service in White Lake Township.

Richmond police were called Saturday morning after employees found what they thought was someone lying on the sidewalk. Officers along with Richmond-Lenox EMS and the Macomb County Medical Examiner’s Office were also summoned to the scene.

Teske, a retired Macomb County Sheriff’s captain, said detectives are reviewing security surveillance video from area businesses as well as interviewing the people who were with her Friday night as they build a timeline of Ward’s last hours.

Ward was employed at a nearby hardware store, Teske said. In speaking with her friends who with her Friday night, no one indicated she had any argument with anyone during the night, he added

“If we are leaning toward anything, from what we know now, it doesn’t appear to have been a homicide,” Teske said. “But we won’t know for sure until the autopsy is complete.”

The autopsy may be done Sunday or Monday.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Richmond police at 586-727-7545.